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Brazilian Democracy as a Late Bloomer: Reevaluating the Regime in the Cardoso-Lula Era

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 September 2022

Timothy J. Power
Timothy J. Power*
Affiliation:
University of Oxford
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Abstract

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This article reviews the state of Brazilian democracy at the close of the Cardoso-Lula era. Brazil has now completed a quarter century of competitive politics, the longest democratic period in the country's history. Although evaluations of the regime's prospects were often pessimistic in the 1985–1993 period, the performance of democracy improved markedly after the Plano Real stabilization plan in the mid-1990s, which was followed by significant policy achievements under presidents Fernando Henrique Cardoso (Party of Brazilian Social Democracy, or PSDB) and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Workers' Party, or PT). Since 1995, the axis of national politics has turned on the competition between the PSDB and allies versus the PT and allies. Under this emerging bicoalitional architecture, several key policy domains have been objects of consensus between the two camps, which has led to major policy advances; however, certain policy areas remain outside the zone of consensus and pose enduring challenges. Despite the improving quality of democracy, the mass public continues to display a surprisingly high level of indifference to the regime type.

Resumen

Resumen

Este artículo Estudia el Estado de la democracia brasileña al cierre de la era Cardoso-Lula. Brasil ha completado un cuarto de siglo de política competitiva, el período democrático más largo de la historia del país. Aunque las evaluaciones de las perspectivas del país eran frecuentemente pesimistas en el periodo 1985–1993, el desempeño de la democracia mejoró marcadamente tras el plan de estabilización del Plano Real a mediados de los años 1990, que fue seguido por logros políticos importantes bajo los presidentes Fernando Henrique Cardoso, del Partido de la Democracia Social Brasileña (PSDB), y Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, del Partido de los Trabajadores (PT). A partir de 1995, el eje de la política nacional ha girado en torno de la competencia entre el PSDB y sus aliados contra el PT y sus aliados. Bajo esta arquitectura emergente de dos coaliciones, varias áreas clave de la política han sido objeto de consenso entre los dos campos, lo que ha llevado a importantes avances; sin embargo, algunas áreas de la política continúan fuera de la zona de consenso y representan retos duraderos. A pesar de la mejoría en la calidad de la democracia, la masa del público continúa mostrando un sorprendente nivel de indiferencia al tipo de régimen.

Type
Research Article
Information
Latin American Research Review , Volume 45 , Issue S1: Living in Actually Existing Democracies , 2010 , pp. 218 - 247
Copyright
Copyright © 2010 by the Latin American Studies Association

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